From Seclusion To Inclusion: A Comparative Case Study Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders In Middle Schools

The transition of students with emotional and behavioral disorders has often been difficult when the move is made from self-contained classes to a less restrictive environment in general education classes. This study analyzed the perceptions of students and teachers when six middle school students with emotional and behavioral disorders moved from self-contained classes to inclusive placements in general education classes in three schools that were part of a large metropolitan school district in the southeastern United States. Data were collected over a 2 month period using semi-structured student interviews and teacher surveys, as well as student records and other school reports and observations. Data were analyzed to develop a grounded theory that explained the differences between students who had successful experiences (no discipline referrals or failing grades) and students who experienced problems with inclusion. The students attributed their success to: (a) support from their teachers, (b) quiet, well-managed inclusive classrooms, and (c) planned systems for the inclusion process. The teachers attributed student success to: (a) general education teacher willing to take a student with EBD into their class, (b) academic and behavioral support systems, and (c) positive home-school relationships between the teacher and the child\u27s family. The grounded theory developed in this study predicted that students have a greater chance of successful inclusion if they have (a) behavioral supports aimed at managing academic frustration, (b) a plan that encourages and rewards self-determination and (c) supportive teachers or family members. These findings also related important elements of research and provided insight on current practice for the inclusion of students with emotional and behavioral disorders

The Impact of Teacher Training on ADHD: Assessing Classroom Interventions and Teacher\u27s Self-Efficacy

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been a topic that has gained widespread attention, especially in the last decade. Researchers have attempted to study the growing epidemic in numerous ways, from understanding the cause to helping children and adults learn how to deal with the lifelong diagnosis. More recently, the mainstream topic has leaned towards institutional factors that continuously a lack of support for teachers within the classroom. Teachers and educators around the world have been placed at the forefront to manage something that may appear foreign. Consequently, school districts are left with the daunting task of following federal regulations that they may not be prepared to understand. Assessments have been utilized to determine how this growing epidemic has reshaped the outcomes of students within the classroom. It should come as no surprise that studies show a link between negative teacher\u27s beliefs and student academics. After reviewing past and present research, there appears to be a significant research deficit in the area of teacher’s knowledge, training, and teacher self-efficacy. Research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of providing training that will aim to enhance teacher’s understanding of ADHD, develop classroom strategies, and strengthen teacher self-efficacy

Investigating brand image transfer in sport sponsorship of a participation sport event in Singapore

The interest from corporate sponsors in participation sport events in Singapore has increased. This study explores the applicability of the model for brand image transfer (Martensen et al., 2007) in a local participation sport event as to whether sponsor-event congruence, event emotions and attitude still work as driving variables for brand image transfer. The data were collected from 224 event participants (aged from 16 to 40) at Surf n Sweat which was Singapore’s biggest beach running event. The questionnaire consisted of the items measuring sponsor-event congruence, event emotions, attitude towards the event, attitude towards the sponsor, and purchase intention. A structural equation modeling supports an adequate overall and internal fit of the model to the data. The path analysis shows that sponsor-event congruence significantly influenced positive event emotions (β = .31), positive event emotions significantly influenced attitude towards the event (β = .73), event attitude significantly influenced attitude towards the sponsor (β = .33), and sponsor attitude significantly influenced purchase intention (β = .82). However negative event emotion did not mediate the relationship between sponsor-event congruence and event attitude. The findings provide empirical evidence of consumer behaviour in brand image transfer, thereby benefiting corporate sponsors looking to explore event sponsorship for their brand marketing in Singapore

STAGS Developments for Residual Strength Analysis Methods for Metallic Fuselage Structures

A summary of advances in the Structural Analysis of General Shells (STAGS) finite element code for the residual strength analysis of metallic fuselage structures, that were realized through collaboration between the structures group at NASA Langley, and Dr. Charles Rankin is presented. The majority of the advancements described were made in the 1990's under the NASA Airframe Structural Integrity Program (NASIP). Example results from studies that were conducted using the STAGS code to develop improved understanding of the nonlinear response of cracked fuselage structures subjected to combined loads are presented. An integrated residual strength analysis methodology for metallic structure that models crack growth to predict the effect of cracks on structural integrity is demonstrate

The confusion of fear/surprise and disgust/anger in children: new evidence from eye movement technology

Research shows that children often confuse facial expressions of fear with surprise and disgust with anger. According to the perceptual-attentional limitations hypothesis, facial expressions are confused because they share action units (Camras, 1980; Wiggers, 1982). Experiment 1 tested this hypothesis for the confusion between fear and surprise and Experiment 2 for the confusion between disgust and anger. Eye movements were monitored in both experiments. In experiment 1, the results showed that children were more accurate when two distinctive action units were presented than when the brow lowerer was the only distinctive action unit differentiating between fear and surprise. Furthermore, the results showed that participants spent more time fixating on the mouth than the eyebrows. They made more saccades when the only distinctive cue was in the eyebrows. In experiment 2, participants identified the emotion as anger when the mouth was open, and disgust when the mouth was closed, spending more time on the mouth when the mouth was open. These findings suggest that facial expressions are confused, not only because of the amount of visual similarities they share, but also because children do not allocate their attention to facial regions equally; they tend to focus on the mouth.Master's Thesi

Considering Educators’ Perceptions of Ethics and Safety in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)

With the proliferation of students’ abilities to use technology, in particular virtual reality (VR) applications, teachers are experimenting with VR in virtual learning environments (VLE) to engage students; but clear ethics and safety guidelines are not available. Within the field of education additional research is needed to determine how VR is employed in VLEs. Additionally, what are the decision-making processes of educators for the VR programs chosen for classroom use based on ethics and student safety? Through qualitative inquiry, educators from K–12 and higher education shared their perceptions of ethics and safety concerns in VR applications for use in the classroom. We collected data from a sample of K–12 and higher education professionals from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) membership, an educational organization emphasizing technology integration and learning. Data analysis from the individual interviews with open-ended questions revealed five primary themes and twelve sub-themes. Participants agreed that they need ethical and safety guidelines as they embark on new horizons that influence student well-being. The findings from this study may provide an in-depth understanding of the importance of developing ethics and safety guidelines for educational VR programs when used by students

A study of the personal literature written in the Eastern Cape in the nineteenth century

The evidence of these diaries, all written in the nineteenth century, reveals the heterogeneous nature of early settler society in the Eastern Cape. Generalizations can only be of the most tenuous kind in such a small sample; but women tend to dwell on the domestic, the men on their public lives, the most reticent about their private lives are the soldiers. There is one diary which can be described as personal; the diarists did not regard their diaries as appropriate repositories of their personal triumphs and failures. The perceptions formed in Britain about the land and people of Africa are not drastically modified upon arrival unless the diarist experiences a prolongued contact with either

A study of the personal literature written in the Eastern Cape in the nineteenth century

The evidence of these diaries, all written in the nineteenth century, reveals the heterogeneous nature of early settler society in the Eastern Cape. Generalizations can only be of the most tenuous kind in such a small sample; but women tend to dwell on the domestic, the men on their public lives, the most reticent about their private lives are the soldiers. There is one diary which can be described as personal; the diarists did not regard their diaries as appropriate repositories of their personal triumphs and failures. The perceptions formed in Britain about the land and people of Africa are not drastically modified upon arrival unless the diarist experiences a prolongued contact with either

Take Me Away: The Relationship Between Escape Drinking and Attentional Bias for Alcohol-Related Cues

Previous research has indicated that implicit attentional bias to alcohol-related cues may serve as a cognitive measure of susceptibility to alcohol dependence. The primary goal of the current study was to examine whether college students who drink to escape dysphoric emotions or moods (i.e., escape drinkers) have stronger attentional biases for alcohol-related cues than non-escape drinkers. Additionally, because previous research has shown that presentation time and content of smoking-related stimuli moderates differences between smokers\u27 and nonsmokers\u27 reaction times, this study sought to determine whether these effects generalized to alcohol-related stimuli. Participants who were identified as either escape (n = 74) or non-escape drinkers (n = 48) completed a dot-probe task in which alcohol-related pictures that contained humans interacting with the alcohol-related cues (active) or alcohol-related cues alone (inactive) were presented along with matched control pictures. These stimuli were presented for either 500 ms or 2000 ms to determine whether attentional biases occur as a function of initial or maintained attention to the alcohol-related cues. Escape drinkers displayed a significantly stronger attentional bias for alcohol-related inactive cues at longer presentation times (i.e., 2000 ms) compared to non-escape drinkers. This bias was independent of alcohol dependence and family history of alcoholism. These results suggest that in addition to dependence and family history, escape drinking is an important factor to consider when examining attentional biases to alcohol-related cues

The Sex and Race Specific Relationship between Anthropometry and Body Fat Composition Determined from Computed Tomography: Evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

BackgroundFew studies have investigated the relationship of anthropometric measurements with computed tomography (CT) body fat composition, and even fewer determined if these relationships differ by sex and race.MethodsCT scans from 1,851 participants in the population based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis were assessed for visceral and subcutaneous fat areas by semi-automated segmentation of body compartments. Regression models were used to investigate relationships for anthropometry with visceral and subcutaneous fat separately by sex and race/ethnicity.ResultsParticipants were 50% female, 41% Caucasian, 13% Asian, 21% African American, and 25% Hispanic. For visceral fat, the positive relationship with weight (p = 0.028), waist circumference (p<0.001), waist to hip ratio (p<0.001), and waist to height ratio (p = 0.05) differed by sex, with a steeper slope for men. That is, across the range of these anthropometric measures the rise in visceral fat is faster for men than for women. Additionally, there were differences by race/ethnicity in the relationship with height (p<0.001), weight (p<0.001), waist circumference (p<0.001), hip circumference (p = 0.006), and waist to hip ratio (p = 0.001) with the Hispanic group having shallower slopes. For subcutaneous fat, interaction by sex was found for all anthropometric indices at p<0.05, but not for race/ethnicity.ConclusionThe relationship between anthropometry and underlying adiposity differs by sex and race/ethnicity. When anthropometry is used as a proxy for visceral fat in research, sex-specific models should be used